Not What's Intended
by Petra Williams
Summary: Episode insert for 'Ascension'. Carter starts a conversation in the van on the way to her house... Please read and review. :)


Disclaimer: Don't belong to me.  
  
Spoilers: Ascension  
  
Pairing: Sort of Sam/Jack  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Season: 5, set during Ascension.  
  
Archiving: Wherever.  
  
Notes: I thought the look Sam gave Jack during the briefing was... telling. She didn't look at Hammond or Simmons, she looked at Jack. (besides, domestic disputes in the back of vans are amusing... It's like having them inside of a Moya pod.) (not much new said here, sadly)  
  
Not What's Intended  
  
by Petra Williams  
  
"You were watching me." The words--whispered though they were--held an accusation. Major Sam Carter was seated in the back of a van that was heading towards her house. Where they would break in and apprehend the alien man who trusted her. But that wasn't what she was angry about. She twisted in her seat and faced the man who was her commanding officer. The man she had trusted. And felt disgust.  
  
Colonel Jack O'Neill shrugged, looking away from her. "Yeah." There was apparently something fascinating about the green grass and trees that flowed by while the van was driven ever closer to its destination.  
  
"It wasn't just Simmons and the NID. It was you. You knew they'd bugged my house. And you didn't tell me!" Her voice was warming in tone, though it stayed soft.  
  
"Carter--"  
  
"No. This is about trust, isn't it, Colonel? You don't trust me. You haven't for a long time, and you certainly don't now."  
  
"I don't trust--what the hell are you talking about, Carter?"  
  
Sam cracked slightly, her anger getting the better of her. She slammed a fist onto her knee, then winced softly. But continued. "Black ops, Colonel. Any time they come up between us any trust I've built up gets wiped clean."  
  
"Black ops? You're being ridiculous, Carter."  
  
Sam didn't stop to consider that maybe she was taking this too far. That maybe, just maybe, she was more pissed at herself for not trusting him--but she had sort of told him, her mind announced rebelliously. She shifted in her seat, facing him head on, and hissed, "Am I, sir? You didn't trust any of us when the Tollan and Asgard required your help. And this time, you--"  
  
"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Carter, I wasn't sure!"  
  
She growled, but turned away. This conversation was going nowhere. Either he was being deliberately dense... Or she was being stupid. And she'd prefer the former explanation. Suburban Colorado Springs drifted past while she ignored the tension in the van. Of course, he had sort of tried to save her ass by covering for her...  
  
In the front seat, Major General George Hammond eyed the two people in the back seat, and sighed to himself. Bickering like children was very unlike them. But then, after the things they had gone through, perhaps it was. It could have been worse, he supposed. The two of them could have long ago killed each other, given in to their mutual desire and ruined their team... Or died. They had come close to it so often he'd almost given up counting.  
  
But they were still alive. And still arguing.  
  
He wondered if maybe it was simply that they were too frustrated about other matters, and picking this to poke at.  
  
"Jack." Sam Carter's voice was very soft. Hammond turned his eyes back to the road and tried to tune out the conversation.  
  
"Hrm?" the Colonel grunted.  
  
Sam twisted in her seat again and looked at his profile. She huffed out a breath, irritated all over with this man. "I..."  
  
"More words of wisdom, Major?"  
  
Oo. Major. Yeah, he was pissed now. "Maybe I was wrong." She continued to look steadily at him, refusing to look down at the hands she was twisting around each other.  
  
"Maybe." A snort.  
  
"Well, if you're going to be an ass about it, sir..."  
  
"Hey!" The exclamation was hissed. A finger wagged at her. "No insulting a superior officer."  
  
"If the shoe fits, sir."  
  
"Carter," he began warningly. But he'd turned to look at her, and his eyes were suddenly glittering with mischief.  
  
"It's all right, sir." A smirk threatened her lips, but she shoved it down. "We're almost there, anyway."  
  
"Right. We'll continue your punishment later."  
  
"...punishment, sir?"  
  
The van pulled to a stop. Sam half-hoped he'd answer her, but he didn't. Instead, he got out. Thrusting the whole conversation away, she got out as well. There was an alien to deal with. 


End file.
